Opening device for packages



Jan 3.1., 1967 G. A. RAuslNc-z ETAL 3,301,458

OPENING DEVICE FOR PACKAGES Filed March 18, 1965 3 sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.5

Jan. 31, 1967" G. A. RAUSING ETAL 3,301,458

OPENING DEVICE FOR PACKAGES Filed March 18, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 gl- LZQ by @wh/0M Jah. 31, 1967 G. A. RAuslNG ETAL. 3,301,458

OPENING DEVICE FOR PACKAGES yFiled Maron 18, 1965 s sheets-sheet s byA @wm 1f-PMM 77 PA/EYS w M v United States,A Patent O 3,301,458 OPENING DEVICE FOR PACKAGES Gad A. Rausing, Hans A. Rausing, and SvenOlof Sren Stark, Lund, Sweden, assignors to AB Tetra Pak, Lund,

The present invention refers to an opening device for a package of the kind whichconsists of a tube which is closed at its ends by transverse seals and has had imparted to it a preferably parallelepipedic f-orm with doublewalled, triangular flaps projecting from the ends of the package, said aps being folded in against the end and/or side walls of the package andone of them being intended to be folded out and to form part of the opening device.

Square packages of the abovementioned kind are used both for pulverized and granular products and for liquids, eg. milk. As mentioned above, for such a package the invention is intended to provide an opening device which may easily be opened by the consumer, this new opening devi-ce being principally characterized by the fact that the triangular flap which is to |be folded out and which is inclosely with reference to the accompanying drawings, 1

which by way of example show four different embodiments of the device according to the same. In the drawmgs:

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two side views of la rst embodiment at right angles to each other,

FIG. 3 shows part of FIG. 2 at an enlarged scale,

FIG. 4 shows a View corresponding t-o that in FIG. 2 but with the package partly opened,

FIG. 5 also shows a view corresponding to FIG. 2 but with the package completely opened,

FIG. 6 and 7 show two side views of a second embodiment of the invention at right angles to each other,

FIG. 8 shows part of FIG. 7 at an enlarged scale,

FIG. 9 shows the package according to FIGS. 6-8 as seen from the top,

FIG. 10 shows a view corresponding to FIG. 7 but with the package partly opened,

FIG. 11 also shows a view corresponding to FIG. 7 but with the package completely opened,

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 13 finally shows a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention.

The package 1 shown in FIGS. 1-5 may for example be manufactured by forming -a web-shaped starting material into a tube and transversely sealing it within narrow, parallel zones, the filling of a package taking place between two successive transverse sealing operations. The parallelepipedic form may be given to the individual packages before or after they have been detached by cuts in the sealing zones, this forming operation preferably taking place in a parallelepipedic form under a certain longitudinal upsetting action.

At the forming operation described above the package 1 gets side walls 2 and 3 and end walls 4. The end walls 4 are traversed by fins 5 which have been formed at the transverse sealing and which, as will appear from the figures, have been folded down -against the end Walls 4. The fins 5 further continue out on four triangular, doublewalled flaps 6 which have been produced at the forming operation and only one of which is shown in FIG. 1. The

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other three are folded in against end and side walls, respectively, not shown. The flap 6 shown is attached to the side wall 3 to be relatively easily releasable therefrom, as Will be described more closely below. This flap 6 is further provided with a weakening line 7, which extends transversely across the two layers of the double-walled flap and makes it possible to tear off the outermost part `thereof to open the package and at the same time produce la pouring spout. The weakening line 7 consists prefera'bly of a perforation partly penetrating the packaging material. v

As a means for facilitating the tearing-off of the outermost part of the flap 6 there is glued on, heat sealed or attached in any other suitable way to the outside of the two layers of the double-walled flap a strip 8 for example Wear-resistant paper, i.e. to the bottom side and at least partly to the top side of the flap. Under the ap 6 and near the upper edge of the package the strip 8 is doubled and extends downwards so far that it projects below the flap 6. The flap 6 is held in a folded-down position by the part of the strip 8 provided on its bottom side being glued on or attached in any other suitable way to the extension of it which is situated on the package side 3 and which in turn is attached to the package wall itself. At .theouter end of the strip 8 a second strip 9 serving as a gripping flap is provided.

When it is desired to open the package, one only has ,to seize the gripping flap by ones lingers and pull the strip 8 loose from the side wall 3 and then, by a sudden pull, to tear off` the outermost part of the flap along the weakening line 7. After this tearing-off the remaining part of `the-Hap 6 will form a pouring spout. Its form of spout may be made more pronounced by a light pressure on the sides 2 of the package, so that the end wall 4 on the one hand, theside wall 3 on the other hand are |bulged out as shown in FIG. 5.

The package shown in FIGS. 6-11 differs from that shown differs from that shown in FIGS. 1-5 only by the tear-open indication 7 being replaced by an emptying hole 10 on the inside of the flap 6 and a vent hole 11 on the t-op side 4 of the package, the strips 8 and 9 'being at the same time modified for adaptation to these holes and therefore given new reference numerals, namely 12 and 13, respectively. The strip 12 is arranged to extend across the end wall 4 so as to cover the hole 11 therein. At the same time this strip naturally covers the hole 10 in the same way as the strip 8 in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-5 covered the tear-open indication 7. Moreover, the same reference numerals have been used in FIGS. 1-5.

The embodiment according to FIG. 12 differs from that shown in FIGS. 6-11 only by the strips 12 and 13 being replaced by a single strip 14, the loose end 15 of which has the same function as the strip or gripping flap 13. The left hand part of the strip 14, as seen in the figure, is fixed in the same way as for example a double-sided tape both to the side wall 3 and to the inner side of the fla-p 6, Where it simultaneously closes the emptying hole 10. In the same way it closes the vent hole 11 by being fixed at its right hand part, as seen in the figure, to the end wall 4. To the extreme right, however, the strip 14 is free from the package so that its end part 15 may be easily seized, when the package is to be opened.

Finally, the embodiment according to FIG. 13 differs from that shown in FIG. 12 only by the shape of the opening provided in the flap 6, and here designated by 10a. In this case, the opening has been given the form of a V-shaped slot in the web form of the material, the apex of which is situated on the inside of the foldeddown flap 6. For the sake of distinctness only the right hand part of the strip 14 has lbeen traced. For the rest the strip is intended to have substantially the same extension as in the embodiment according to FIG. 12, apart from the fact that its left hand end has to be folded up on to the outside of the flap'6 so as completely to cover the slot 10a. Contrary to thev embodiment according to FIGS. 1-5 the tip of the flap 6 shown in FIG. 13 is not intended to be completely removed. Instead it is only intended to be deviated. If the slot 10a and the Hap 6 have substantially the proportions shown in FIG. 13, the tip is automatically hooked behind the rear edge of the emptying opening formed in the flap 6, which opening moreover Will get the shape shown in FIG. 5. This also applies to a narrower slot. If on the other hand the slot is made substantially broader, this effect is not obtained.

It should be observed that in FIGS. 3 and 8 the flap 6 is shown, for the sake of distinctness, at a certain distance from the package itself. In practice, however, as above mentioned, it is xed in close engagement with the package side.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples described above only but may 'be varied within the scope of the following claims. Thus, the form and positions both of the holes and of the strips may be varied, for example depending upon to what kind of package the invention is intended to be applied.

We claim:

1. An opening device for a package of the kind which consists of a tube which has been closed at its ends by transverse seals and given a parallelepipedic form, a double walled triangular Hap extending from the edge of said package formed by the juncture of a side wall with an end wall thereof and communicating with the interior thereof, an opening in the inner wall of said ap which is `adjacent to said side wall when said flap is folded downwardly and a strip xed to said inner wall of said ap and covering said opening, said strip extending from the free corner of the flap inwardly to said edge and downwardly along said side wall beyond said free corner of said flap. l i

2. An opening device as dened in claim 1 in which said package has a second opening in a wall thereof and in which said strip covers also said second opening.

3. An opening device vas dened in claim 2 in which said second opening is in said endwall.

4. An opening device as defined in claim 3 in which said strip extends across the inner wall of said ap, around a free edge thereof, upwardly tol said edge of said package and for some distance over said end wall covering said second opening.

5. An opening device as defined in claim 1 in which said strip is adhesively attached to said side wall, said device comprising av gripping flap attached to the surface of said strip adjacent to said side wall and extending beyond the lower edge thereof.

6. An opening device as defined in claim 4 in which said opening in the inner wall of said flap is V-shaped and has legs that extend to the free edges of said flap and into the outer wall thereof.

7. An opening device as defined in claim 6 in which the width of said legs is such that the tip of said flap may be bent to engage the rear edge of the emptying opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,740,547 4/ 1956 Huntting 220-7 X 3,062,427 11/1962 ZGraggem 229-14 3,067,923 12/ 1962 Thiets 229-14 3,117,709 1/1964 Fuchs 229-7 X 3,127,082 3/1964 Iagenberg 229-7 3,190,531 6/ 1965 Holmstrom 229-7 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

D. T. MOORHEAD, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN OPENING DEVICE FOR A PACKAGE OF THE KIND WHICH CONSISTS OF A TUBE WHICH HAS BEEN CLOSED AT ITS END BY TRANSVERSE SEALS AND GIVEN A PARALLELEPIPEDIC FORM, A DOUBLE WALLED TRIANGULAR FLAP EXTENDING FROM THE EDGE OF SAID PACKAGE FORMED BY THE JUNCTURE OF A SIDE WALL WITH AN END WALL THEREOF AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR THEREOF, AN OPENING IN THE INNER WALL OF SAID FLAP WHICH IS ADJACENT TO SAID SIDE WALL WHEN SAID FLAP IS FOLDED DOWNWARDLY AND A STRIP FIXED TO SAID INNER WALL OF SAID 